Alrighty so May has been a busy month for me- I'm in a pretty hard math class and I'm volunteering at the NWS office like 3 times a week now, and I meant to be posting more, but I just haven't been :(.
Well to make up for lost blogs I'll try and talk about a couple of things-
1. I bought a book! ^^
I've been reading more this summer because I had a couple of fun books I was almost finished with when I got bogged down with homework in the Spring semester. I finished reading a Carol Higgins Clark book- Laced, and I finished up the Final Confessions of Georgia Nicholson by Louis Rennison- Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? (Both fluff, but fun fluff ^^.) And from listening to Vegetarian Food for Thought (and checking through her website) I decided to get some new books- which are of more of a serious nature than the other ones I've been reading. I bought Mad Cowboy by Howard F Lyman and Diet For A New America by John Robbins (and I bought Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass for fun <3 for Whitman).
So far I've only read the first 3 chapters of Mad Cowboy (and I'm simultaneously reading Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series)), but so far it's really intriguing. It's written by a farmer who grew up on his family's organic farm, went to college for agriculture and was taught about chemical based agriculture, came home and took over is family farm with these new ideas (his dad was old and his brother had cancer), and basically killed his land and went from dairy farm to cow-mill on the animal front, and then got a paralyzing tumor on his spine from all the chemicals he had been using. Now he's pushing veganism and works as a Farmer Union worker pushing bills in DC to support organic family farms. It's a really interesting book and makes me a little worried about even my veggies from Walmart based on the way he says he and other farmers treated their farms.
2. Reading this book, along with watching the travesty that is the Gulf Coast Oil Spill has made me think about what I can do.
Obviously I can try (and am trying) to put my money with the better choices such as buying organic when I can afford to and not supporting BP, biking, walking, or carpooling when I can, but also by my political action. I'm registered with the green party (yes- crazy hippie, no-not a Ralph Nader supporter), but I regret to say that I haven't updated my address in a while, so I'm mailing that form in tomorrow (no post on Memorial Day) and looking at my state's Green Party website to see what I can do about the Oil Spill (they're trying to get the President and the Governor to declare a state of emergency, which between the spill being unstoppable/unclog-able and the hurricane season coming, I can't say is a bad idea).
I've also already signed a petition on CredoAction http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/epa_bp/?r_by=&rc=paste2 . Surprisingly, it's hard for me to support a lot of these petitions for stopping off-shore drilling though, because while I'm personally against it, I have family working for oil companies doing off-shore drilling (not with BP mind you) and I don't exactly want my family to be jobless. This particular petition is more aimed at BP and how it's financing it's actions to stop the leak.
3. Unrelated Stuff
Allie's going to New Zealand soon! :O
I got a Wii.
I'm seeing Sex and the City 2 in a little bit- I'll tell you if it's as bad as the reviews say.
YAY! :D
31 May 2010
23 May 2010
Recipe That a Non-Vegetarian Manly Man Loves
The week before last I made a deal with Brian- I'd cook more of his favorite meat meals (which I already pretty much do anyways but I guess he thinks that I don't) if he tried a week's worth of vegetarian dinners (haha!). So last week he had a vegetarian dinner every night of the week. While he didn't like all of them (and to be honest, I didn't either- I was just trying new dishes out with him), I found one meal that he really loved- like he loved it so much that he had thirds and was sad when we ate it all.
Mexican Pasta Casserole
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=16971.0
Enjoy. :)
Mexican Pasta Casserole
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=16971.0
Enjoy. :)
18 May 2010
Pad Thai Noodles with a Twist
So I still had some leftover veggie snack mix and I could tell the snow peas were starting to dry out and I needed to use it up quickly. I also had some egg-less ribbon noodles (egg noodles sans egg) and some peanut sauce from the last time I made Pad Thai for Brian and I (a while ago). So I had a Pseudo Pad Thai lunch.
Pad Thai Veggie Snack Mix
noodles
veggie snack mix
pad Thai sauce (recipe follows)
dry roasted peanuts, crushed (optional)
In a sauce pan, boil some water. Add noodles, cooking al dente (follow directions on packet). When pasta is cooked, turn off heat. Drain off most of the water, leaving some at the bottom. Add veggie snack mix. Add a spoonful or so of the sauce (to taste/consistency wanted). Stir, mixing thoroughly. Serve immediately. Garnish with crushed, dry roasted peanuts if desired.
Pad Thai Sauce
1 Tbs olive oil
1-2 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 cup peanut butter
garlic chili sauce to taste
soy sauce to taste
rice vinegar to taste
lime juice to taste
chili powder, salt, pepper, sugar to taste
In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and garlic over medium-low heat. When garlic becomes fragrant, add peanut butter and whisk thoroughly, lowering heat if needed. When the heat has melted the peanut butter a bit (not to burning point- turn down the heat if you're there), add the other ingredients, constantly whisking and tasting to find when it tastes good to you.
NOTES:
This isn't an authentic recipe at all. It's an Americanized version that I made to use up my leftovers and get a similar taste to Pad Thai.
Traditional Thai cuisine uses fish sauce, which makes it not exactly vegetarian.
I mentioned in the post that I used ribbon noodles- a more authentic noodle to use would be a rice-based, fettuccine-styled noodle found in Asian groceries.
Pad Thai wouldn't normally have the veggie snack mix, but rather sautéed onions, scrambled egg, and chives (and meat for non-vegetarians, tofu works well too).
Usually, the sauce is very thin and just barely covers the noodles. It often does not actually have peanut butter in the sauce, but rather just garnished peanuts on top for the flavor.
It's usually garnished with bean sprouts and crushed peanuts
17 May 2010
Avocado Wrap and Lentil Curry Soup
Here's some delicious stuff that I came up with when trying to use up stuff in my house last week:
Avocado Wrap
1/2 avocado, sliced
some alfalfa sprouts, rinsed
veggie snack mix (see vegan summer lunches post)
1 wrap of choice (I used whole grain, but use whatever you like)
Warm wrap covered in damp paper towel in microwave 30 seconds or so, to make it easier to wrap. Place avocado slices in the center, add sprouts and veggie snack mix. Wrap or roll and enjoy! ^^
Lentil Curry Soup/Stew
1 lb bag (brown) lentils
1 bag frozen vegetables for soup mix (mine had corn, green beans, lima beans, potatoes, some okra, and tomatoes)
lots of water...about 6 cups, but to be honest I didn't actually measure...
1 Tbs olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
Curry powder to taste (tumeric, garlic powder, chili pepper, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove)
In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant, add frozen veggies. Wait a little bit for the veggies to absorb some of the garlic infused olive oil and some of the ice to melt, about 1-2 minutes. Add water. Since I don't have an exact measurement you might want to add less at first...I added more later after tasting the lentils. Bring water to a boil and add the bag of lentils. Let cook 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally, tasting later to make sure flavors are blending and that the lentils have enough water to become soft.
Serves...a lot...probably about 12...maybe more.
Serving suggestion: serve warm over rice, OR put in a wrap with lettuce and tomato, maybe rice for an Indian twist on burritos- warm or cold works for this one.
Avocado Wrap
1/2 avocado, sliced
some alfalfa sprouts, rinsed
veggie snack mix (see vegan summer lunches post)
1 wrap of choice (I used whole grain, but use whatever you like)
Warm wrap covered in damp paper towel in microwave 30 seconds or so, to make it easier to wrap. Place avocado slices in the center, add sprouts and veggie snack mix. Wrap or roll and enjoy! ^^
Lentil Curry Soup/Stew
1 lb bag (brown) lentils
1 bag frozen vegetables for soup mix (mine had corn, green beans, lima beans, potatoes, some okra, and tomatoes)
lots of water...about 6 cups, but to be honest I didn't actually measure...
1 Tbs olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
Curry powder to taste (tumeric, garlic powder, chili pepper, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, clove)
In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant, add frozen veggies. Wait a little bit for the veggies to absorb some of the garlic infused olive oil and some of the ice to melt, about 1-2 minutes. Add water. Since I don't have an exact measurement you might want to add less at first...I added more later after tasting the lentils. Bring water to a boil and add the bag of lentils. Let cook 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally, tasting later to make sure flavors are blending and that the lentils have enough water to become soft.
Serves...a lot...probably about 12...maybe more.
Serving suggestion: serve warm over rice, OR put in a wrap with lettuce and tomato, maybe rice for an Indian twist on burritos- warm or cold works for this one.
12 May 2010
Veggie Burger Dinner
Tonight Brian wanted Frisco Melts. (Ok, and it was kind of planned out in the meals for the week too...I have to plan.) Well I'm still in vegan mode- so what to do? I love the Frisco melt sauce (2 or 3 parts French dressing to 1 pat Thousand Island), but there's egg in it (Thousand Island)...I already do a veggie burger patty (Morningstar Griller's Prime), but there's also cheese involved... Well I did have to make a few compromises, but here's what I came up with (it's pretty tastey ^^ ).
Vegan Frisco No Melt
2 slices of bread (preferably "Texas style")
1 Morningstar Griller's Prime patty
1 slice tomato
1 leaf of lettuce
1 Tbs French dressing
Toast bread. Warm up a non-stick pan over medium heat, when thoroughly heated, place patty in pan. While cooking patty, when toast is done, spread French dressing on one slice of toast. Place the lettuce and then the tomato on top of the dressed slice. Flip veggie burger when it starts to smell good and sizzle a little. When "browned" on both sides (patty is already brown, but add some char to taste), place on top of tomato slice, then place other slice of bread on top. Enjoy. :)
Vegan Frisco No Melt
2 slices of bread (preferably "Texas style")
1 Morningstar Griller's Prime patty
1 slice tomato
1 leaf of lettuce
1 Tbs French dressing
Toast bread. Warm up a non-stick pan over medium heat, when thoroughly heated, place patty in pan. While cooking patty, when toast is done, spread French dressing on one slice of toast. Place the lettuce and then the tomato on top of the dressed slice. Flip veggie burger when it starts to smell good and sizzle a little. When "browned" on both sides (patty is already brown, but add some char to taste), place on top of tomato slice, then place other slice of bread on top. Enjoy. :)
11 May 2010
Vegan Summer Lunches
As I mentioned, my mom fed me A LOT of cheese last week...so I'm trying to eat mostly vegan this week. It's also summer (hot) in Florida (hotter) and I just started my summer class, so I need easy stuff to bring with me on those days and stuff that will be low maintenance to make. Well here's what I've done yesterday and today (some recipes may already have been posted):
ATA (Avocado, Tomato, Alfalfa Sprout) Sandwich
1/2 avocado, sliced
1-2 slices tomato
handful alfalfa sprouts, rinsed
2 slices of bread or 1 wrap of choice
Earth Balance "buttery spread" to taste (if non-vegan, mayo works well with this sandwich)
Butter one side of each slice of bread, or the inside of the wrap. On top place sprouts, tomato slice and avocado slices. Place other piece of bread on top or wrap your wrap. Serves 1.
Avocado-Strawberry Salad (not as good as the avocado mango salsa/salad, but I worked with what I had)
1/2 avocado, chopped
1/2 tomato, chopped
3-4 strawberries, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
lime juice as needed for avocado
salt, pepper, cumin to taste
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Note: makes a much smaller portion than the amazing avocado mango salad and tastes more sweet- no onion or cilantro. Refrigerate after use. Serves ~2.
Veggie Snack Mix
1 bag snow peas
1 bag baby carrots
1 box cherry/grape tomatoes
Rinse ingredients, drain, and mix them together. Keep on hand (in fridge) for easy snack for school/work or to throw in salads.
KT'S Vegan Salad
2 leaves romaine lettuce, rinsed, torn
handful alfalfa sprouts, rinsed
veggie snack mix to taste
handful dry, roasted peanuts
balsamic vinaigrette to taste
Mix lettuce, sprouts, and snack mix together in a bowl. Sprinkle peanuts on top and dress. Serves 1.
Strawberry-Banana Smoothie
1 banana, sliced
1.5 cups frozen strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup juice of choice (I used Welch's Orange Pineapple Apple)
Place ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth adding more or less juice for your perfect smoothie consistency. Serves 2-3.
ATA (Avocado, Tomato, Alfalfa Sprout) Sandwich
1/2 avocado, sliced
1-2 slices tomato
handful alfalfa sprouts, rinsed
2 slices of bread or 1 wrap of choice
Earth Balance "buttery spread" to taste (if non-vegan, mayo works well with this sandwich)
Butter one side of each slice of bread, or the inside of the wrap. On top place sprouts, tomato slice and avocado slices. Place other piece of bread on top or wrap your wrap. Serves 1.
Avocado-Strawberry Salad (not as good as the avocado mango salsa/salad, but I worked with what I had)
1/2 avocado, chopped
1/2 tomato, chopped
3-4 strawberries, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
lime juice as needed for avocado
salt, pepper, cumin to taste
Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Note: makes a much smaller portion than the amazing avocado mango salad and tastes more sweet- no onion or cilantro. Refrigerate after use. Serves ~2.
Veggie Snack Mix
1 bag snow peas
1 bag baby carrots
1 box cherry/grape tomatoes
Rinse ingredients, drain, and mix them together. Keep on hand (in fridge) for easy snack for school/work or to throw in salads.
KT'S Vegan Salad
2 leaves romaine lettuce, rinsed, torn
handful alfalfa sprouts, rinsed
veggie snack mix to taste
handful dry, roasted peanuts
balsamic vinaigrette to taste
Mix lettuce, sprouts, and snack mix together in a bowl. Sprinkle peanuts on top and dress. Serves 1.
Strawberry-Banana Smoothie
1 banana, sliced
1.5 cups frozen strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup juice of choice (I used Welch's Orange Pineapple Apple)
Place ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth adding more or less juice for your perfect smoothie consistency. Serves 2-3.
09 May 2010
New Recipe Site! ^^
Today when making my grocery list and planning for lunches, I decided to look up avocado sandwich recipes for more ideas (because I love avocado in sandwiches) and came across a site that had pages and pages of vegetarian avocado sandwich recipes. Which was obviously exactly what I wanted. So check it out: VegWeb.com.
Also- yesterday for dinner Brian and I went to Tijuana Flats for dinner (because being away for a week we had nothing in the house). While I was home, my mom did her best to keep feeding meatless meals, but unfortunately since she couldn't eat soy products or beans when she had been vegetarian years before, most of her recipes involve eggs or cheese. I had a LOT of cheese last week and want to be vegan for a couple days. So I ordered something new- I got the veggie burrito with no cheese and no sour cream and black beans as my bean of choice. It was REALLY filling and delicious and also goes well with the Jason's Mom's Sauce which you know I love. So yeah, if you're ever at Tijuana Flats and want to try a healthier vegan dish, I recommend the burrito. (I mean it's not fried like the flautas and chimichangas and when you ask for no cheese or sour cream you don't get all the cholesterol you normally would). :)
Also- yesterday for dinner Brian and I went to Tijuana Flats for dinner (because being away for a week we had nothing in the house). While I was home, my mom did her best to keep feeding meatless meals, but unfortunately since she couldn't eat soy products or beans when she had been vegetarian years before, most of her recipes involve eggs or cheese. I had a LOT of cheese last week and want to be vegan for a couple days. So I ordered something new- I got the veggie burrito with no cheese and no sour cream and black beans as my bean of choice. It was REALLY filling and delicious and also goes well with the Jason's Mom's Sauce which you know I love. So yeah, if you're ever at Tijuana Flats and want to try a healthier vegan dish, I recommend the burrito. (I mean it's not fried like the flautas and chimichangas and when you ask for no cheese or sour cream you don't get all the cholesterol you normally would). :)
07 May 2010
Podcast Addiction
During April I started listening to a vegetarian podcast- Vegetarian Food For Thought (also available on iTunes) and almost immediately became addicted.
It's a GREAT, smart, thoughtful podcast about all aspects of vegetarianism and life as a vegetarian. The author, Collen Patrick-Goudreau is a vegan living in California who has 2 cookbooks out, one on the way, and some other books in the works. She has a master's degree in English literature and her love of books and cinema shows in several episodes of her podcast. She is a really intelligent lady who really researches the issues she discusses and comes up with good, solid evidence that support a vegetarian lifestyle (that people who may ask questions about our lifestyle would probably be interested in hearing). The purpose of her podcast, as she says at the beginning of every episode, is to give people the information they need to make informed food choices (and informed purchase choices in general although she doesn't specifically mention this in her introduction) and debunk myths about vegetarianism and animal rights. She has already made over one hundred episodes. I personally have only had the pleasure of listening to 17 so far, but am working my way up.
The thing that really got me addicted is her compassion for animals, her detailed information, and the support her podcast gives. I've mentioned in several posts that I often feel like there's only two people who really support the decision I've made and only a couple others who tolerate but don't understand it and then everyone else kind of frowns upon it or laughs at it. The lack of support has really been kind of hard for me to deal with, but her podcasts inspire me to keep doing what I'm doing. So it is my hope that her podcasts will give you as much support and love as they've given me.
As I said Colleen's podcast, Vegetarian Food For Thought, is available on iTunes. She also has a website/club, Compassionate Cooks, and a member forum for the podcast and club members.
It's a GREAT, smart, thoughtful podcast about all aspects of vegetarianism and life as a vegetarian. The author, Collen Patrick-Goudreau is a vegan living in California who has 2 cookbooks out, one on the way, and some other books in the works. She has a master's degree in English literature and her love of books and cinema shows in several episodes of her podcast. She is a really intelligent lady who really researches the issues she discusses and comes up with good, solid evidence that support a vegetarian lifestyle (that people who may ask questions about our lifestyle would probably be interested in hearing). The purpose of her podcast, as she says at the beginning of every episode, is to give people the information they need to make informed food choices (and informed purchase choices in general although she doesn't specifically mention this in her introduction) and debunk myths about vegetarianism and animal rights. She has already made over one hundred episodes. I personally have only had the pleasure of listening to 17 so far, but am working my way up.
The thing that really got me addicted is her compassion for animals, her detailed information, and the support her podcast gives. I've mentioned in several posts that I often feel like there's only two people who really support the decision I've made and only a couple others who tolerate but don't understand it and then everyone else kind of frowns upon it or laughs at it. The lack of support has really been kind of hard for me to deal with, but her podcasts inspire me to keep doing what I'm doing. So it is my hope that her podcasts will give you as much support and love as they've given me.
As I said Colleen's podcast, Vegetarian Food For Thought, is available on iTunes. She also has a website/club, Compassionate Cooks, and a member forum for the podcast and club members.
05 May 2010
Oil Spill
Hello!
I'm finally back from my month of Hell! Yay! Originally I wanted to talk about a veg podcast I've become addicted to, but I felt that due to recent circumstances there were more pressing matters to discuss. (So next post will be about my new addiction). I know this is a subject that is probably more near and dear to Allie than it is me, but it also has me pretty upset right now, and I wanted to talk about it in case there's anyone else reading this blog-now or even somewhere down the line. What is it? The Gulf Coast Oil Spill.
Being from Pensacola with its formerly sandy white beaches (which are no longer white or natural thanks to off-shore dredging of sand and bringing it to shore to build more condos) and it's beaches just now recovering from Hurricane Ivan (we had just gotten Fort Pickens back), I know this is going to hurt our local economy, which has been based on tourism for years. But REALLY, the big issue isn't our economy or the seafood industry- it's the animals. The sea and marsh animals and birds who are being threatened aren't even being talked about in the media with the exception of how being "tainted" with oil will effect the people who's livelihood depends on killing them.
This is a media issue and an executive issue that needs to be talked about. Not only did BP respond badly to the explosion and leaking of the oil rig, but the media did as well. The media has been trying to play the blame game at the start of this, and really that is not (or at least it should not be) the main point. The main point is that this explosion and giant leak occurred (and still occurring in the case of the leak) and now we have a disaster of unforeseen proportions. We are talking about the large variety of sea creatures and birds being threatened out at sea, the wetlands and marshes, the amphibian creatures bridging the shore. These animals are being threatened because of our own negligence and we're too busy throwing around accusations about who's fault this is that we're not taking care of them.
I'm home right now and I've been watching the local news and so far they've been cleaning only a few birds and testing dead sea turtles to see if their death was oil related or not, coming to the conclusion of no. We need to be stopping the leak and preventing further damage. BP needs to be paying for not only the stopping of the leak and prevention of landfall of the oil, but also for animal clean up and care, for searches to go out and at least find the birds far out at sea (I realize it's impossible to scoop up all of the fish in the area to save them by taking them away from their homes). When this leak finally ends, there will be fishermen suing for damages for years to come, but who's fighting for the fish? The dolphins? The shellfish? The frogs? The alligators? The birds? What about the endangered species? The manatees? The sea turtles? The red snapper (which are still allowed to killed by fishermen, but are capped at a limit because of the population size)? Who's fighting for them? Not ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, etc. Noone on TV.
And what are these dispersants doing that BP is throwing in the water? They break up the oil yes, but they mix it throughout the ocean column, the fish at all levels of the ocean column are being exposed to the oil. Not only that, but the dispersants themselves are toxic to the sea life. I realize that this is kind of a last minute aid to try and take care of the oil situation, but I really feel that at no point were these animals considered with their right to life, but rather how much BP can spend to make their problem go away and not be sued by all the fishermen for effecting their income.
I leave this rant with a few resources that I hope people will check out:
An article from the Pensacola News Journal about getting training to clean wildlife covered in oil
http://www.pnj.com/article/20100505/NEWS01/100505007
An article about the endangered species affected by the oil spill and how dispersants work from an activist organization
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/05/05/oil-spill-dolphins-marine-mammals
An article from the Discover Magazine blog about how sea turtles are being affected by the spill
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/05/05/beyond-politics-oil-water-shrimp-and-sea-turtles/
And some Facebook cleanup groups trying to get volunteers (Note: the ones I know of are for the Pensacola area, but I'm sure there are more for areas further west)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115890201776737
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117019351652257
I'm finally back from my month of Hell! Yay! Originally I wanted to talk about a veg podcast I've become addicted to, but I felt that due to recent circumstances there were more pressing matters to discuss. (So next post will be about my new addiction). I know this is a subject that is probably more near and dear to Allie than it is me, but it also has me pretty upset right now, and I wanted to talk about it in case there's anyone else reading this blog-now or even somewhere down the line. What is it? The Gulf Coast Oil Spill.
Being from Pensacola with its formerly sandy white beaches (which are no longer white or natural thanks to off-shore dredging of sand and bringing it to shore to build more condos) and it's beaches just now recovering from Hurricane Ivan (we had just gotten Fort Pickens back), I know this is going to hurt our local economy, which has been based on tourism for years. But REALLY, the big issue isn't our economy or the seafood industry- it's the animals. The sea and marsh animals and birds who are being threatened aren't even being talked about in the media with the exception of how being "tainted" with oil will effect the people who's livelihood depends on killing them.
This is a media issue and an executive issue that needs to be talked about. Not only did BP respond badly to the explosion and leaking of the oil rig, but the media did as well. The media has been trying to play the blame game at the start of this, and really that is not (or at least it should not be) the main point. The main point is that this explosion and giant leak occurred (and still occurring in the case of the leak) and now we have a disaster of unforeseen proportions. We are talking about the large variety of sea creatures and birds being threatened out at sea, the wetlands and marshes, the amphibian creatures bridging the shore. These animals are being threatened because of our own negligence and we're too busy throwing around accusations about who's fault this is that we're not taking care of them.
I'm home right now and I've been watching the local news and so far they've been cleaning only a few birds and testing dead sea turtles to see if their death was oil related or not, coming to the conclusion of no. We need to be stopping the leak and preventing further damage. BP needs to be paying for not only the stopping of the leak and prevention of landfall of the oil, but also for animal clean up and care, for searches to go out and at least find the birds far out at sea (I realize it's impossible to scoop up all of the fish in the area to save them by taking them away from their homes). When this leak finally ends, there will be fishermen suing for damages for years to come, but who's fighting for the fish? The dolphins? The shellfish? The frogs? The alligators? The birds? What about the endangered species? The manatees? The sea turtles? The red snapper (which are still allowed to killed by fishermen, but are capped at a limit because of the population size)? Who's fighting for them? Not ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, etc. Noone on TV.
And what are these dispersants doing that BP is throwing in the water? They break up the oil yes, but they mix it throughout the ocean column, the fish at all levels of the ocean column are being exposed to the oil. Not only that, but the dispersants themselves are toxic to the sea life. I realize that this is kind of a last minute aid to try and take care of the oil situation, but I really feel that at no point were these animals considered with their right to life, but rather how much BP can spend to make their problem go away and not be sued by all the fishermen for effecting their income.
I leave this rant with a few resources that I hope people will check out:
An article from the Pensacola News Journal about getting training to clean wildlife covered in oil
http://www.pnj.com/article/20100505/NEWS01/100505007
An article about the endangered species affected by the oil spill and how dispersants work from an activist organization
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/05/05/oil-spill-dolphins-marine-mammals
An article from the Discover Magazine blog about how sea turtles are being affected by the spill
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2010/05/05/beyond-politics-oil-water-shrimp-and-sea-turtles/
And some Facebook cleanup groups trying to get volunteers (Note: the ones I know of are for the Pensacola area, but I'm sure there are more for areas further west)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115890201776737
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=117019351652257
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